The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-01-12
REV, DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINEs sun
DAY SERMON.

t"g N H. susTtDent before them, tl.L 1t
sSod os;! 'sl 70 the young child ''a''-S1
= A. this s3pn all Christendon celebrates
y ..s;ncarrSPn. Step down out Of the COM
fortable .aroundings in which you are into
Isin peopl in village barn after a
ak Of ehty miles, too long for one in
yor healt No lords Of state waiting in an
t., haner as at the birth Of other kings,
lmesserer mounted at the doorway ready
toeraldne advent from city to city, no
6ily rdlcal attendance, no satin llned
crdle tAeceive the infantile guest, but
moarcborn in ho.telry allied the House
of--,he night with diamonded finger
poiitipto the place, the Door Of Heaven
swnngtide open to look out from orchestral
bston tripping overtures Of the Messiah,
minst as Of God standing on the lowest door
step Heaven to announce glory and good
will loon after the whito bearded astrologers
kneel and from leathern pouch chink the
/ shekes, and from open sack exhale the tufts
<of frankincenSe and rustic out the bundles
of Ns.rrh. The loosened star, the escaped
doxology of celestials Our world. lost
star, and another star rushing down the sky
that night to beckon it home again All
that scene will yet make all nations keep
Christmas. Now, are there not some new
lessons coming from this old story! Lessons
not hackneyed by oft repeated! Oh, yes.
Notice. first of all, it was a sidereal appear
ance Lo, the star went before them. Why
not black cloud in the shape of hand or
finger pointing down to the saared birth
plac 9! , Oh, a cloud means trouble. The
world had had trouble enough. Why not
shaft of lightning quivering in the sky and
striking down to the sacred birthplace:
Lightning means destruction-writhfng, all
consuming destruction, and the world had
k.l az t,frk ra n
That means joy, that means good cheer, that
means hope, that means ascendancy. A
star! That means creative power, for did
not the morning stars sing together when
the portfolio Of worlds was opened! A star!
That means defence, for did not the stars in
their course fight against Sisera and for the
Lords people! A star! That means brilliant
Continuance. forare not ihe righteous to shine
as the stars forever and ever! Day-star on
high. Morning star of the Redeener. That
unusual appearance in the sky that night
may have been q strange conjunction OF
worlds. You know astronomers calculated
long years before it occurred the transit or
Venus, and they can Ses thousands years
ahead and can tell you what will be the con-
junction Of worlds i'll the year 1856. and so
they can calculate backward, and Christia n
astronomers go into a calculation and they
find that in what we call the year one there
was strange appearance in the Heavens;
and the intidel, rejecting the Bible and de-
spising Christianity, he goes into the same
calculation; and he is compelled to declare
that in the year one there was strange ap-
pearance in the Heavens The Chinese record,
made up, of course, entirely independent OF
call the year one, there was u strange appear
ance in the Heavens That, after
all, it may have been a meteoric
appearance, such as you and l have
sometimes witnessed, / stood OH the plain
and I saw in the western heavens, some
wears ago, meteor fash with such brillian-
cy and precision that thought then that II
Ihad been on hill rs high aS that OF Bethe-
hem could have calculated within few
yards the place where it alighted In the
University Of Iowa and in the British Mu-
scum there are fragments Of rock that have
been hurled Off from nieteorS as they went
trailing their glory on the sky. So it does
not seem to me at all improbable, this sidereal,
or, If you will, this metenric appearance on
that Christmas night. Oh am so glad that
# was not cloud Of threat but star OF
hope that shone that night. l do not wonder
that the dying colles. student when he
caught q glimpse of that star, took his pen,
and the light seemed flashing from his fin
gers and the star secmea nouring its lnstre
from his lips while KirkWhite wrote those
immortal words:
When marshaled on the Nightly plain,
The glittering host bestul the sky;
One star alone Of all the train
Could fix the sinners wandering oye.
Hsrk, bark to God, the chous breaks
From every host. from, ev,ry, gem;
But one alone the Saviour S,eaks,
1t is the star of Bethlehem
Once on the raging sea rotN,
The storm was loud the n:,ht was dark,
And rudely blew the wind tlat tossed
My laundering bark:
Deep low within my rltalS fr,Ze
Death struck | cCa>oi the tide to stem,
When suddenly a star arose,
It was the star OF Bethlehem.
.People are sorry tha; Kirk White died af-
ter writing that 1t vas enough for life
time 10 have written il and no wonder when
he completed it the gldies Of Heaven swal-
lowed him up.
notice also in that gene that other worlds
seemed to adore our Lad and Master. Bright
star of night, wheel omn thine orbit. NO."
says the star. II must come nearer, must
bend, must watch TO zee what they will do
with Jesus" Anothe world in worship.
That star bowed in obedience. sometimes
hear people talk as thogh the few thousand
miles of this word OF alra were all of the
Saviors dominion: butt suppose all the mill
lions and billions and qiadrillions Of worlds
are neutrality-suspicious. not by such crea-
lures as we are, but by uch creatures as God
designed, and all those worlds are
world in the universe You know that
the great organ Of th universe with its
stops, its keys, its pedls, its pipes, had
complete harmony save oae injured pedal,
save one broken key, theror hunana Of the
human race. This disoyal world. You
know that however grad an instrument, if
there is one broken key itspoils the harmony.
And Christ is to mend thi,broken key, and re-
store this injured pedal ami the world will be
In accord. and all worlds viii be in accord.
Isle OF Wight, larger in comparison with the
British Empire than our world Is compared
with Christ's dominion That Christmas
night astronomy surrendered to Christ.
Our planet for Chris. The solar
Christ. Minutest and heMest microscope
cannot see the one side of Clrist's dominion,
and farthcst-reaching telescope cannot sec
the other side OF Christ's dominion. But I
will Tell you how the universe is bounded.
1t is bounded on the nor. b and south, and
east and west by God, and Gdd is Christ, and
Christ is God, aud that God is ours. Oh,
my friends, does it not enlarge your ideas Of
a Saviour's dominion to realize that all the
His anvil! That the words are so many
fee:y hocks following the one shepherd!
That all the islands of light IN inmeusity are
great archipelago of Chrstsdominion!
= But Inotice also in this science that have
spoken of the fact that it was the profound
aud tho learned men Of tho world who came
to Christ The Bible says thu wise men or
the East. We call them the magi, the as
trologers, the alchemists, and we pronounce
their names with depreciat;ug accentua-
tion Do you know whJ they were. They
were the most splendid and magnificent men
OF the century. They knew all that was